It is so funny watching Americans contort themselves as if the elections aren't a sham. They act as if they are voting on board members for the banks, you know the people with power lol.
So your imaginary scum, being scum, somehow means that Biden having never remotely done anything like your imaginary scum, is the same as Fat Joffrey who behaves daily like your imaginary scum?? I don't think this is the "both sides" you're looking to employ.
Hate to break it to you, but your chess games have led you to the precipice of fascism and climate apocalypse. But keep playing, I'm sure the next game will reverse all that.
Do you know what’s so frustrating about these people? They often won’t show up until 6-9 months before the election and start complaining about the lack of choice. They don’t vote in the primaries, they don’t work the other 3 1/2 years on campaigns or for causes they care about. They do nothing at the local or state levels. They show up last minute, scream “nothing we do matters,” then fuck off until the next general.
Just grenades complaining and griping and destroying things with no end in sight.
The American system is literally fake it is so sad watching you people pretend it isn't and your local elections matter. Your local elections are a sham and complete and total joke when you do this:
As others have said, the analogy is wrong, but for different reasons than what I've seen.
A better analogy is an abusive relationship. There's your partner who beats you regularly. You're often left bruised. You talk about leaving and the response is 'the other guy will break your arms, and unless you agree to stay with me, they're moving in and they will break your arms. I'm still punching you, and there's no chance I'll stop, but I'm better than that person.'
There is a cycle of abuse. Look it up. There's no way to make an abusive relationship better. There's very little chance that a person will change while they have power over a victim. Power gives up nothing without a fight.
The abuser might change, but only after reflection and a loss of power.
I'd rather hear the "Trump is worse" arguments than listen to people try to gaslight us into believing Biden's been good, at least "Trump is worse" is true
They get worse every time they lose elections because they're able to sell their voter base on all the "we need to do these horrible things to win" arguments. Step one of solving our problems is electing shitty Democratic lawmakers, step two is primarying them for failing to do what they campaigned on (with community organizing and mutual aid throughout these two steps and just as a general ongoing thing).
They get worse every time they lose elections because they're able to sell their voter base on all the "we need to do these horrible things to win" arguments.
For real.
And enough with the social justice fakery, embrace UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, fully, or shut the f*** up about it.
Preaching generic “omg this is so wrong!” to the choir doesn’t really do any good when the social conservatives really only need to be educated about human rights. They’ll join that UN party when they figure out what’s really up with human rights.
There are many issues with this analogy. For starters, the person can choose to date nobody and they aren’t stuck with any guy. “Nobody” is actually a choice. They can also look elsewhere - they have countless immediate, viable options.
If I choose not to vote, I still get Trump or Biden.
Dude comes so close, but then blames dem voters instead of the politicians or political system that represents capital ahead of people.
It'd be one thing if Biden was listening to the base, but he does all this in spite of the dems, not because of them.
Despite what the republicans say, Biden is not swayed by money (hence why Obama had to pay for his son's medical procedures) or what anyone tells him, he always does what he knows is right. Unfortunately he has the kind of moral compass that tells you to oppose desegregation and write 100:1 laws.
We can't change the system unless we vote en bloc. For president, there are two choices, but there are thousands of downticket races for state and local governments where there are valid progressive options. Conservatives have been extremely successful getting their base to consistently back conservative candidates in those local campaigns, and they are getting what they want because politicians fear their unified wrath.
Progressives can be torn apart and distracted by absurd thought experiments and false equivalencies.
The analogy kind of falls apart since she is not limited to this guy and Chad. She's free to choose nothing at all. With Trump vs Biden, there's no viable third option, and having no president is not one of the options. So the "Trump is worse" argument becomes viable simply because you do have to choose one of them.
Continue with that analogy. What would happen if that woman had no other option. Should she choose the nice guy, the chad or object to the choice being fostered upon her and choose nobody? And if she's paired anyway with that person, should she then act as if it was her choice, or take actions to disengage from that person and destroy the system that caused these turn of events?
I don't think it does. A choice fostered upon me at the threat of violence is not a choice at all. I refuse to participate and therefore legitimize such a farce.
It really doesn't. This is the momentum of your country either way. Or did you forget that your democrats had chances to put Supreme Court justices and they just...didn't?
What are you talking about? The senate has to approve them. The GOP controlled the senate. I get you don’t understand our system but before acting so smug I’d make sure I understand what happened.
I'm saying hrc votes were worthless; throw away votes. Hence a non vote was the same, and a third party vote was at least as valuable, and when enough people support a third party candidate, it will be worth more, because it shows the two major parties they have something to worry about.
This is also a good point. I think we'd have a better shot at electing a third-party candidate than we would of pushing an establishment democrat left.
Dems have made it abundantly clear they are willing to move further right than a centimeter to the left. Also my American compatriots see socially left and assume economically left when that's just not the case. Socially left is great, until everyone is homeless, hungry and sick, equally.
Not to mention that even the "socially left" is highly questionable. When I see a leader who's willing to throw other marginalized groups such as Palestinians, refugees, and BIPOC under the bus, I have no doubt he'd have us LGBTQIA+ people lined up and executed if he thought it would help him win elections. Establishment Democrats are not allies, no matter how many rainbows they project on the White House.
This is a great point. I've said you're either human rights or rights for me and mine, not thee and thine." If you're pro black but not pro women, pro women but not pro lgbtqia, etc.
Nope. The folks that Voted remained in consideration as there was another Election. Those that didn't Vote were ignored. One of the primary reasons Biden got the Nod to be the Candidate in 2020 was that those that did not Vote could not be counted on to show up and thus the potential Candidates they would support were ignored from the considerations as they couldn't be counted on.
He wasn't, and isn't ignored. In fact his opinion is posted in papers all over the World for the single reason that People Voted for him. Who has more sway in getting the message out? The guy that Voted for Bernie to be paid attention to, OR the self important sat it out and thus has no one interested in what they wanted as they don't vote Purist?
Folks that stayed home to prove a point made sure the SC would get the three. Failure to Vote resulted in the harm. Had those folks Voted, harm would have been reduced. You the failure of your own position.
Non-participation is not the same as doing nothing. If she chooses to date neither, neither is in her life. If you do nothing, you still get trump or Biden. The analogy doesn’t hold.
If the comment was sufficient we wouldn’t be here. It’s a bad analogy. Accept that it has flaws or make your case. Don’t keep pointing to the same insufficient comments as if the only answer is our lack of comprehension. Several people clearly disagree with it on the same grounds so maybe consider you’re wrong.
Non-participation is not the same as doing nothing. If she chooses to date neither, neither is in her life. If you do nothing, you still get trump or Biden. The analogy doesn’t hold.
Continue with that analogy. What would happen if that woman had no other option. Should she choose the nice guy, the chad or object to the choice being fostered upon her and choose nobody? And if she’s paired anyway with that person, should she then act as if it was her choice, or take actions to disengage from that person and destroy the system that caused these turn of events?
It fits. You say the analogy doesn't fit because "we don't have a choice". I tell you to adjust the analogy so that the woman doesn't have a choice either.
If the woman doesn't choose any, who does she end up with? What should she do about it? You clearly see the absurdity when presented as an analogy, but you cannot see the similarity because the violence of the politicians is many levels removed from you.
I live in the gulf coast. The violence is not removed from me. It’s arguably worse here than anywhere else in the US, they test those insane policies here. You know nothing about me or my family.
Interesting you dropped off that SCOTUS discussion. You seemed pretty smug and sure there too.
Cognitive dissonance is uncomfortable. I'm still struggling through plenty of it, with no clear answers. I acknowledge it, and also acknowledge at this late age, my imaginative abilities have atrophied, significantly. :-/
If she has the same lack of choice, she should absolutely choose the lesser evil for now and do what she can to rectify the situation after. She can bide her time with the "nice guy" while devising a plan of escape. If she gets stuck with the the abuser, she very well may not survive long enough to make the attempt.
You're right, it doesn't differ from what we should do: mitigate damage now to buy time to develop more meaningful solutions.
That's a good point actually. Arranged marriages existed for thousands of years. Women and girls were usually not given a choice, but even if when they were and chose the "lesser evil" it did nothing to end the tradition and evils of arranged marriage.
Arranged marriages are still a thing. My Indian friend was quite happily a bachelor at 23 until his parents presented him with a choice of three brides or be disinherited and kicked out if the family business and family home compound. He traveled to India to meet his choices and returned married. I'm not sure either of them are happy, but they are parents. That's got to be good for their child, right?
You can refuse to vote but you're still going to end up with one of those two as your president. Are you OK with not having a say about which one it ends up being just to make a point to nobody in particular?
Yeah nah mate. You have the right to not vote. But if you choose to exercise this right you don't get to whinge about the person elected by those who did vote.
Society is not composed of you and you alone. It is composed of many. You took yourself outta this decision but it's still being made freely by everyone else and no, it doesn't impinge on you to accept the democratic consensus of the many
I understand that I'm living in an oppressive system enforced by violence and that my life is shaped at the threat of state violence. you don't need to reiterate that to me. It's why I'm not legitimizing it by participating in this farce of "democracy" and instead dedicate my life to changing it.
Whichever puppet is on top doesn't change all that whatsoever. Nor will your platitudes about be "accepting the democratic consensus of the many" when I don't have the alternative due to said violence.
Well said. As someone who is going to vote for Biden to keep Trump out of office, I harbor no ill will towards leftists who choose to reject the whole charade. One way or another, we need to bring down the system, and I don't see any evidence that voting for centrist democrats is likely to incrementally move us towards a better system.
On the contrary, it seems more likely to me that Trump would potentially accelerate the evolution of society by fucking everything up so badly that we would have no alternative but to make radical changes.
However, given that I am unable to be certain of the future outcome of each timeline, I believe that voting for Biden minimizes the risk of a worst case scenario. But again, I don't approve of shaming leftists for abstaining, because the reality is that both parties are colluding to maintain the status quo, and ultimately if Trump wins the election its not the voters who will be to blame, but the Democratic party for failing to produce a credible challenger.
Thank you for sharing that; I also consider myself a radical moderate. In the context of a decadent and degenerate society, the term makes a great deal of sense.
Yes. While there's nothing wrong with sex work, if you're forced into it to survive when you'd rather not (marriage or cohabitation because it's either that or sex someone to get a low or higher paying job) it's still forced prostitution, and once Mr. Nice Guy has you, it's mask off, 100. Even if you willingly choose Mr. Nice Guy, and the mask comes off, it's a bait and switch, rather than duress and still scummy.
To put it another way, if your choices are die from dehydration or drink poisoned water, dehydration may be less agonizing than drinking from a brackish source.
As pointless as Voting third party is in the US, at least you remain included in the considerations of the Ruling Class. Don't Vote and your interests are ignored as irrelevant.
I might register to vote just to write in “thanks for counting the votes” for president - or I guess I could vote for Cornel West, but what’s the point? The abstention would be more representative of my views, at this time, I believe.
Consider this:
Republicans win big this election, including the presidency. Democrats were just very nearly beaten out. They look at who else got votes, and investigate what their platform was. They realize they could co-opt some of those ideas to try and get some of those voters next time. But, if you haven't voted, they have no clue what platform you support or what policies they can adopt to win you over next time.
Swap the parties if it suits you, I'm not trying to make a statement for one versus the other, I'm trying to convince you to vote at all.
I'm not trying to make a statement for one versus the other, I'm trying to convince you to vote at all.
appreciated
But, if you haven't voted, they have no clue what platform you support or what policies they can adopt to win you over next time.
I get what you are saying, but I’m not yet convinced. You did make a dent, though. I’ll let it percolate a while.
They look at who else got votes, and investigate what their platform was. They realize they could co-opt some of those ideas to try and get some of those voters next time.
I spent 20 years voting like that and the democrats have utterly failed to listen to anything other than the social justice issues.
The republicans are fundamentally right about some things (this is a democratic REPUBLIC, afterall) but so fundamentally wrong about other things, that they similarly failed to listen to.
So now, I’m mostly content being in the “no one is listening to me” category.
edit: fwiw, i do occasionally write to representatives about topics that i am knowledgeable about
Abstention has historically been a way to declare your distaste for all options and, outside of America, is regarded as honorable. For some reason Americans don’t get that a massive absence at the polls isn’t just about “having better things to do”.
It historically has been and shall always remain an ineffectual and pointless way to assure you and your interests are not a part of the calculation in any way. The fewer that Vote the easier it is to "manage" the remainder. No one, literally no one including the nonvoters themselves cares a single whit for the opinions of nonvoters. Refusal to participate makes your position meaningless. It is the "holding your breath" of the lazy and immature adult. Nothing more and nothing less.
Wow. You have a severe issue with people who are presented some options and say: “No, thanks.”
I have a civic duty that if I am not represented by a candidate, that I do not muster support behind that candidate. If a political party needs my support, it is their responsibility and not mine to attract the voters they claim to need.
You can watch the constant sliding of Democrats toward the right and the vacillating popularity of fringe-left parties to know that the Democratic Party doesn’t give a damn about winning left-fringe voters. After Nader secured over 3 million votes in 2000, do you think the Democratic party learned a single lesson? Or did they just shit the bed all over again in 2004? Did Obama run on any of the 2000 Green Party’s positions?
I’ll save you the effort: The Democratic Party opted to adopt 0 of the Green Party positions from the 2000 election.
So tell me all about how voting Third-Party somehow sends a message.
. A choice fostered upon me at the threat of violence is not a choice at all. I refuse to participate and therefore legitimize such a farce.
Life is full of choice forced upon you, thats unavoidable short of choosing to stop existing. I am forced to choose between where to work. If I say "fuck it, I'm not going to legitimize this capitalist system, I'm making no such choice", I've still made a choice, one that will end up with me being homeless. The threat of violence came true anyways.
It's in my best interest to choose, and in the meantime work to dismantle the capitalist system that is threatening me with homelessness. But when it comes to voting, it's worse because the lives of others are on the line.
You don't have the luxury to stand by and do nothing when people's lives are on the line.
How many trans people will die as a result of suicide or outright killings as a result of Trump coming to power? Their blood will be on your hands, how much are you ok having on your hands? You have the opportunity to vote for a candidate that isn't going to ban GAC, who isn't going to condone or pardon violence against trans people, who isn't going to shift the culture towards more hatred.
And you're choosing to stand idly by and let the harm happen.
If the woman in the scenario is going to be stuck with the nice guy or Donald Trump, then yes she should tactically choose the guy who isn't an unapologetic rapist. She can influence the nice guy's behavior, and avoid the horror of Trump. She does not have to condone or accept the nice guy's bullshit behavior, and there will be a future.
Your utterly not related nor relatable to reality scenario is pointless.
Should she choose to watch Star Wars or Star Trek after having stabbed both your imaginary scum bag and his friend chad. Has the same relevance to the Election.
I disagree, if we are legitimately talking about dismantling the USA, like what happened to USSR, then it will take decades or more to do peacefully. Not gonna happen overnight, babe.
Bro I thought we were talking about the election system, not the whole damn country. You wanna destroy the country, elect trump. I guess that's why you encourage people not to vote for biden.
I never said anything about destroying the country. If Texas wants to secede, let them, I say. If democrats and republicans can’t get along, then keep em separated, I say.
Also, I only encourage people to vote their conscience. I don’t care who they vote for.
If you lot are trying to talk about election reform again, then go back and listen to what Lawrence Lessig was talking about before the democrats blocked him from the debates to protect hillary.
edit: and don’t call me bro. use the proper “brother” or don’t bother, i’m not gender-conforming
It was in response to your patronizing nonsense. Yes, they should have turned the other cheek, but you literally started this! So yeah, you forfeit your right to critique it
Using the trolley problem as an analogy, if you don't pull the lever the people run over by it are not your fault but the trolley company's, but if you do pull the lever the death of the guy on the other tracks is absolutely on you.
I assume you voted for Biden last election, to avoid the trolley running over the people in that proverbial track. Congratulations, you are guilty of murdering all those Palestinian children. Now, next election, if (when) Trump wins, your vote even for Biden is what gives legitimacy to his presidency.
Not Voting is a Vote, just as not choosing is a choice. It is simply a Vote for the worse option based upon your judgment. You remain 100% responsible for enabling what happens simply because you didn't do what you could to prevent it.
No it isn't, fuck that doublespeech. That's like saying to the woman in op's example 'If you don't choose between Niceguy and Chad and then one of them comes and rapes you it's your fault for not choosing the other to protect you when you got the chance'.
That analogy was flawed from the start and doesn't apply to anything. Stop using it, and stop even thinking about it.
With the current election, there are two choices, and only two choices. That is the reality you have to work with. We know that x number of Republican voters are going to turn out no matter what. So by not voting, you aren't making any kind of moral stand. You are just deciding to let the greater of two evils win.
And the reason OP’s analogy falls apart is choosing nobody or someone else is actually valid when you are deciding who to date. But there is going to be a president, it is going to be one of those two people, and not voting/voting third party in 2024 does not change that.
100% does. You have voted to let the majority of those remaining to decide for you. That you did so is actually logged if you are eligible, IE registered. Sorry sunshine, reality happens no matter how hard you hold your breath and stamp your feet.
"In reality, there is no such thing as not voting: you either vote by voting, or you vote by staying home and tacitly doubling the value of some Diehard's vote."
David Foster Wallace, Consider the Lobster and Other Essays
The entire concept of Voting boycott is idiotic. The premise being, "less of a problem gets me noticed!", astoundingly resulted in the protest Voter being ignored.
nope. Still lower numbers than the two established parties. However, what it would do is get the numbers high enough that the various monied and political interests involved paid attention to what those folks were thinking. Unlike the non-Voter whom everyone ignores as they don't Vote.
After that news on research that a Trump victory would likely spell the end of NATO, don’t be surprised if the rightists starts to see this election as being about ending NATO and withdrawing from the UN.
Typical right-wing goals that maybe leftists don’t appreciate the strength of conviction that the hard-liners have.
That (and the obvious social conservative goals) are the only legitimacy that Drumpf really has.
edit: also, Trump trumped Biden on the Palestenian genocide when he moved the Israeli embassy. i’m sure that that emboldened Netanyahu to press even harder rightwards. Now look at it.
But an end to NATO would be an unambiguously good thing. It has literally never fought a defensive war in its history and the places its invaded and bombed are still hurting decades later.
withdrawing from the UN.
A UN where the US couldn't veto a hundred demands for peace in Palestine, backed by threat of sanctions is also an unambiguously good thing.
If I genuinely believed Trump would bring about a peaceful dismantling of the American Empire, I'd have to campaign for him.
But an end to NATO would be an unambiguously good thing
If one were to take Russia at face-value, they might lighten up a bit with less NATO.
A UN where the US couldn't veto a hundred demands for peace in Palestine, backed by threat of sanctions is also an unambiguously good thing.
The US is one of like, what, two countries in the entirety of the UN that haven’t yet ratified ICESCR after 50+ years. So, making some more sense there, too.
I’d not see us leave the UN, though, because then we would truly be screwed. The US would officially no longer embrace human rights, not being a member-state.
But point well taken.
If I genuinely believed Trump would bring about a peaceful dismantling of the American Empire, I'd have to campaign for him.
I’d genuinely be right there with you if he came out as 100% in favor of UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Not having that is an automatic disqualifier for me.
If one were to take Russia at face-value, they might lighten up a bit with less NATO.
If one were to take Russia at face-value, then one would be an idiot that would be shocked once Russia started invading countries like Georgia, Belarus, Hungary, Poland, Finland...
If one were to take Russia at face-value, then one would be an idiot
I’ll bite, as one would be an asshole to think one was an idiot for understanding a basic of diplomacy - engage with the opposite side in a constructive manner.
At face-value, recall, Russia is currently explicitly dedicated to being an enemy of the West. Do you want them to always be our enemy?
engage with the opposite side in a constructive manner.
Russia is currently explicitly dedicated to being an enemy of the West.
That's entirely due to Vladimir Putin. Neither Gorbachev nor Yeltsin were 'enemies' of the west. (OTOH, the dismantling of the USSR really could have benefited from some help from the west; the oligarchs and political elites sacked the wealth of the country, which paved the way for Putin.) Capitulating to Putin would not soften his stance; he would still believe that all of the formerly Warsaw-pact countries 'belong' to the United Soviet Socialist Republics. He still believes that sections of Finland that Russia lost in the Continuation War belong to Russia. He still believes that all the Baltic countries belong to the USSR, despite the USSR not having existed for 30-odd years.
NATO is strictly a defensive organization. The NATO agreement is that IF Russia invades any member country, that all NATO signatories will come to the defense of that country. If a signatory invades Russia, then they're on their own. The only think that NATO directly opposes is Russian aggression; all Russia has to do to avoid war with NATO is... Not invade a NATO country.
I appreciate your enthusiasm! You do make solid points, some of which I am well aware of, but as Russia is not a specific area of interest for me, I can’t match your level of enthusiasm.
However, in the interest of the spirit of brotherhood and interestimg conversation, I would ask this of you:
That's entirely due to Vladimir Putin.
Having been in power for so long and with arguably a strong level of domestic support for decades, isn’t it fair to say that we ought to continue to operate as-if he did speak for the whole country?
Building on that semi-rhetorical question, and especially in regard to your concession that the West could have helped more, and in a larger, more historical perspective, might we perhaps give Russia slight leniency to make minor readjustments to borders, if (hypothetically) the local regions did legitimately vote in agreement?
Recall, being “ethnic Russian” is of key interest and, in my opinion, it might be the case that there are border towns that legitimately prefer to be part of Russia, given their local history, but were never represented properly at the fall of the USSR.
You’ve definitely piqued my interest in the specific mechanism by which the USSR was dismantled.
NATO is strictly a defensive organization.
No argument there. Again, though, I’d ask: when exactly would we start to repair our relationship with Russia by loosening up on them a little?
At this juncture, I presume it would be a long ways away, but one never knows what can come out of diplomatic negotiations, so maybe Ukraine solves the whole thing, if we are lucky.
Having been in power for so long and with arguably a strong level of domestic support for decades,
...That's because every time someone else comes even slightly close to having any kind of popular support, they 'commit suicide', or commit a crime that gets them sent to prison in Siberia. E.g., Alexi Navalny. Moreover, he controls all the media in the country, and has largely managed to cut off significant access to any sources of information from outside the country. So that 'strong level of domestic support' is due to a dearth of options, rather than genuine support.
might we perhaps give Russia slight leniency to make minor readjustments to borders, if (hypothetically) the local regions did legitimately vote in agreement?
No. That's like asking if Texas can choose to secede. They can not. Nor can the rest of the US vote to expel Texas without triggering a constitutional crisis. The region belongs to the country first and foremost, before it belongs to the region. Now, if an entire country votes to allow a region of their country to be annexed, then sure. Even if elections in Crimea were free and fair--and the evidence strongly suggests that most of the people voting were coerced--it would need to be all of Ukraine voting to allow the annexation.
Recall, being “ethnic Russian” is of key interest and, in my opinion,
There are a lot of "ethnic Italians", and "ethnic Irish" living in the US, and they were badly mistreated during the first part of the 20th C. That wouldn't have given Ireland or Italy the right to invade New York, because, despite their ethnicity, they were Americans. Not Irish citizens, not Italian citizens. And, bluntly, Putin claiming to be concerned about the treatment of ethnic Russians is concern trolling. It was an excuse to invade, just like his claims of de-Nazification. The real issue was that Ukraine had left the USSR when the USSR failed, he wants it back, and any excuse that people can be suckered into buying is good enough for him.
when exactly would we start to repair our relationship with Russia by loosening up on them a little?
Again: no. You don't improve your relationship with a bully and a criminal by capitulating. They are the one that is acting incorrectly, so it is incumbent on them to improve their own behaviour, rather than the victim accepting a little victimizing.
they 'commit suicide', or commit a crime that gets them sent to prison in Siberia
Like I said, arguably. Show me some data that says that the opposition has grown above 25% (arbitrary, you may understand what I mean) and then I’ll come down on the side that he probably doesn’t speak for the majority of the country.
That's like asking if Texas can choose to secede. They can not. Nor can the rest of the US vote to expel Texas without triggering a constitutional crisis.
The only way that they can secede is if we make a constitutional amendment to allow states to secede, yes. Personally, I’d vote for letting Texas secede, if they wanted to.
Now, if an entire country votes to allow a region of their country to be annexed, then sure. Even if elections in Crimea were free and fair--and the evidence strongly suggests that most of the people voting were coerced--it would need to be all of Ukraine voting to allow the annexation.
Now we are seeing eye-to-eye, Helix - that’s pretty much my point. There are diplomatic avenues to solve this problem, so maybe Ukraine can solve the whole thing, in the interest of preventing future wars. I say “solve” in the sense that they may be able to negotiate a plan for how to handle this in the future for the whole old Soviet bloc.
concern trolling
No argument with this paragraph, I agree, in principle.
The whole thing reeks of Putin trolling the West.
rather than the victim accepting a little victimizing
Point taken, however, instead of a little victimizing (by way of that hypothetical peaceful path that we outlined earlier) they are now getting a lot of victimizing (vis a vis, death and destruction).
Again, for the sake of argument, assuming that Russia itself was victimized during the fall of the USSR, and assuming that Putin is seeking to redress that, rather than him trying to take over the whole old-bloc, then is there any other peaceful path?
if we assume that he is trying to take over the whole old-bloc, then I’d be entirely in agreement with you on this topic.
I’m just not willing to make blanket assumptions like that - I prefer the probabilistic approach.
Thanks, by the way, for taking the time to discuss this with me. I’ll keep replying if you do.
Like I said, arguably. Show me some data that says that the opposition has grown above 25% (arbitrary, you may understand what I mean)
In 2020, the support for Alexi Navalni was around 20%, which, as the article notes, was despite the fact that all of the available Russian media--which is entirely controlled by the state--demonized him as a traitor to Russia. If you had a reasonably free media in Russia that was free to report on what Putin was really doing, then it seems likely that support would have been higher.
But if opposition leaders keep getting jailed, or commit suicide, every time their public support breaks out of the single digits, then yeah, duh, of course you aren't going to see opposition about 25%.
There are diplomatic avenues to solve this problem, so maybe Ukraine can solve the whole thing, in the interest of preventing future wars.
You're missing the point entirely. Sure, it's not rape if you consent. And you can stop a rape that's already happening by saying, okay, sure, I consent to this. But, really...? That's the direction you want to go here? Russia could also stop this at any time just by pulling troops out, and giving Ukraine it's own land and kidnapped people back. Russia can prevent future wars by, I dunno not invading other countries. Why should it be the responsibility of the victim to negotiate with the aggressor?
Again, for the sake of argument, assuming that Russia itself was victimized during the fall of the USSR, and assuming that Putin is seeking to redress that, rather than him trying to take over the whole old-bloc, then is there any other peaceful path?
Russia was victimized by Russians. Not by the west, not by Ukraine. These are all self-inflicted wounds, not some grand conspiracy by The West. The former Soviet states didn't want to be Soviet states, because the Soviet government had always been complete dogshit. When the USSR broke up, the politically powerful and connected systematically looted the country of wealth; it wasn't western governments and companies that looted the country. So if Putin wants to fix that, he needs to fix his shit, not blame everyone else for the problems that Russia created for itself. But that's not what he's been doing; he's trying to mask internal problems by claiming that it's an external enemy.
If you at all care about the lives of trans people, black people, women, latin american people, and the other many targets of Trump & the republicans, then you must recognize that under no circumstances should Trump be given power.
The whole point of the trolley problem is to illustrate how difficult culpability/blame is and how a single choice can be incredibly multi-faceted to the point where you can’t possibly untangle it and find the “correct” answer unless you adhere to a strict, well-defined moral framework. Which usually means making a choice to ignore other factors and other valid moral frameworks. Hence the conundrum. It’s real use is to test drive how each framework handles the situation and to see your reaction to it.
You're missing the lesson here, or purposely obscuring it to win an internet argument in the hopes no one looks too closely because you cited a thoroughly-meme’d smart sounding philosophical question.
The 'correct' answer to the trolley problem is subjective, that's the whole point. I used it to illustrate where I stand, not what the absolutely moral choice is.
I've been pointing how awful that trolley company is since I reached my teens, I've been out in the streets protesting the dangers of this very track, trying to stop the trolleys from running, I would burn down the Trolley Company's headquarters if needed, but I am not killing that one guy no matter what.
I wasn't trying to 'win' an argument or even convince the other commenter of anything, just trying to tell my point of view as a non voter (for ethical reasons). I see voting as a very meaningful action, if the person I vote wins everything they do while in power is going to be a bit either thanks to me or my fault. And they do a lot more bad than good, I would feel that some of that blood is in my hands.
The police officers in Uvalde had no legal responsibility to protect the children in the school. They were not required to charge in and stop--shoot--the person that murdered so many children. And yet, we quite rightly condemn their unwillingness to act, even though acting would placed them at risk of harm or death at the hands of the shooter. They had the ability to prevent mass murder, and they did not.
The person that refuses to act, when it puts them at no risk, and costs no more than the minor inconvenience of standing in line for a few minutes, is certainly no better than the police officers in Uvalde.
I'm opposed to killing 'innocent' people, if the guy in the trolley problem wanted to kill the people on the other track I would certainly pull the lever. But now that you bring children killers to the conversation, you are arguing not just for not getting into the school or stoping the killer but for voting him for more child-killing because the other child-killer is worst. I find all of that very twisted and I want no part in it.
A woman has the legitimate choice to go out with a third guy or nobody. We do not have a legitimate choice of anybody but Biden or Trump for president. One of the two will be chosen.
This meme is stupid and amounts to pro-fascist propaganda.
Fascism is already winning. It’s going to win regardless of whether we vote for Trump or Biden. That’s just the reality of it. Vote for whoever the fuck you want. That’s your freedom. Just know that in America, the ruling class will never part with even a shred of their power.
It's not giving up though; it's acknowledging a reality and making a decision with that information. The alternative is that we get stuck in this nauseating infinite loop of voting for "the lesser of two evils," while the working class bicker. Both sides aren't the same, but they lead to the same outcome—as we've seen over and over. This is the trap they have put us in and these are the intended results.
Giving up and giving in are the same thing to the ruling class. They appreciate your support...not you specifically, but rather the investment they've made to make you accept their rule as fate.
It's not giving up; it's acknowledging the reality of the Groundhog Day movie we're stuck in, and doing what you will with that information. This endless circle of the working class bickering over "the lesser of two evils" every 4 years needs to end.
Sure, as soon as the working class realizes that isn't the choice. The choice is obvious. People voting for the right, the party for the owner class are being tricked into voting for the same bosses that treat them like shit.
This prevents the working class people from being elected because the cost of running has been driven up by the right so all we have left are weathly democrats and those that aren't, those that made the mistake of baretending are ridiculed and the working class who votes right join in the piling.
They are class traitors and need this both sides narrative to justify being played for the fools they are
It's a situation with no correct answer, and that's what makes it so frustrating. That's generally why I point out that we're just looking at different flavors of fascism, but people should still vote however the hell they want, or don't.
Identification of enemies as a unifying cause (leftists)
Attacking anybody left of mid right biden for sowing political disunity and furthering degeneracy / good ole blatant misinformation (claims that third party voters just want Trump)
Insistence that "ONLY WE" can save the country.
Appeals to totalitarianism ("Only one of these two can be chosen")
America is already fascist, has been, and Democrats are just blue MAGA - Which is why they don't mind Republicans and dedicate their lives to attacking the left while blaming us for any and every loss (another faschie tactic.)
